Fine spreader



8 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

c. Ma KINNON FINE SPREADER [.llil lll I.

Nov. 24, 1959 Filed Oct. a1, 1955 Nov. 24, 1959 c. MacKlNNON I FINE SPREADER 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fil ed Oct. 31,- 1955 I IN VEN TOR.

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C. M KINNON FINE SPREADER Nov. 24, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed 001;. 31, 1955 INVENTOR. 64 mum-MM BY L 37/? WW.

Nov. 24, 1959 c, MacKlNNON 2,913,774

' FINE SPREADER Filed Oct. 31, 1955 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR. 44% 7 a7 .WEWAM .Uilk wd W8. Pe fi p 15 2,913,774,." r j EINE SPREADER Charles MacKinnon, Plymouth, iLMass., assignor to Plymouth Cordage Company, Plymouth, Mass.,acorporation 'of Massachusetts 9 i v Application oaa ang js s; sem N 5 543,805 4 "Claims; (C1, 19 -1-129) This invention ,comprisesra. new and improved fine 7 Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are plan views which together show the whole machine, v

Figs. 4,:5 and 6 are corresponding views in elevation, Figs. '7 and 8 are fragmentary views showing parts of the faller bars together with their lowering and lifting cams respectively,

spreader fordrawing, combing and spreading hemp, jute,

sisal and similar fibers in preparing. them for the manufacture of Cordage. ,fllh'euinvention resides in the novel combination ofta, slowtlspeed screwroperated unit with a chain'or pushb'ar' unit toperating ata higher speed, the unitsbein'gso;constructed and arranged as substantially to eliminate any-intermediate zone. between them.

Machines for this general purpose now available. tothe industry aredescribed in prior patents;- forexample, US.

N0;1,191,959,3111125,,1916, GOOd. :They. comprise a slow speed chain Iunit operating. a series 'oftgill bars which;comb andspread the fibers, combined. with a high speed: chain unit operating a seriesr-of-gillbars that engage the fibers advancedby the slow speedz'unit, drafting the-fibers. and at the same time subjecting them to fufther combing;- straightening and spreading thus converting them into the forrnnof slivensuitable for. twisting.

In machines like those of the patent there is an intermediatezoneinwhich thegillbar pins. of the slow speed unit begin to withdraw and do-actually with-draw from the fiber and before thespins of; the high speed unit begin toengage the. fiber." ln'that intermediate zone the fibers are not undercomplete control and :inore'over a troublesome loss occurs by the dropping out of short fibers'.

Fig. 9 is a view in perspective of a faller bar, and Figs. 10 and l 1 are views in perspective of gill bars or the chain and push type. respectively.

The slow speed screw-operated unit of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 c omprises an elongated frame includin'gside bars 10, andll having a series of brackets 12'which support a pair of upper-horizontal guides 13 and 14 and a corresponding pair of lower. guides 15. These are located directly below the upper guides, one being shown in Fig. 4. A series of faller bars 16 having upstanding pins 17 are arranged to travel forwardly or toward the left on the upper guides 13 and 14 and rearwardly toward the right on the lower guides 15. The constructionof faller bars isbest shown in Fig. 9. Each bar is provided at both ends with a head having in one face a. vertical slot 18 and an inclined flange 19 shaped to mesh with the operating screws.

The unit includes a pair of lead screws 20 and 21,;the

neath the shafts 22 and 23. These shafts carry corre- Ordinarily thelengthlofzthis intermediate zone. is approximately thetudistance between the axis of the'sprocket chain wheels at the deliveringend of the slow speed unit sponding' lower lead screws 27 mounted directly beneath the screws 20 and 21. The shaft 26 carries a pinion 28 which meshes 'withthe gear 24 on a shaft 22 and drives it in the opposite directionto that of the shaft 26. .That shaft extends rearwardly and is provided with a bevel gear 29 at its rear end meshing with a corresponding bevel pinion 30 on a transverse drive shaft 31. The shaft 31 is provided at one end with a gear 32 which is part of the driving train of the unit leading to any suitable source ofpower. The shaft disposed beneath the upper -shaft23 is likewise provided with a pinion 33 meshing with a bevel pinion 34 on the shaft 31, and by the mechanism described up to this point it will be apparent that all four of-the lead screws of the unit are-driven simultaneously so tha't the faller. bars 16 are advanced by the upper pair of screws along the guides 13 and14 or. push .barptype; andby the novel construction and arrangementofthese elements or .units,.old in themselves, is derived new and unexpected results of outstandingvalue to the industry. t r

\IDQOHB aspect-my-invention may be defined as' a screwoperated unit;having a series of: faller bars and means for advancing them in processionat a predetermined speed, in combination' with" a chain bar-unit having a Series Of l ba rg and means for advancing them at a substantially greater speed than the faller bars, the two iinji tls being closely interconnected end to end whereby fibef'delivered by the faller bars is' immediately received for draft by the fastener movinggillbars. v

Preferably and-as herein shownthepath of screw oper- ;ated faller bars is sueh that their' pins do not fully disengage the fiber until thefpins of the chain-operated gill drawings in which:

and retracted upon the guides 15 by the lead screws 27. The upper guides 14 and'15- are advantageously located with closer, spacing than the screws 20, 21 and between the latter, thus supporting the faller bars at points ofiset inwardly with respect to their points of driving connection with the screws. 7

Q The faller bars 16 are transferred downwardly at the lefthand end of the unit by earns 36 and 36 mounted respectively on the two upper lead screw shafts ,22 and 23 cooperation with the guides 41 and 41'. They are transferred upwardly at the right hand end of the unit by cams 42 and 43 on the two lower shafts 26 respectively in cooperation with the fixed upwardly and downwardly inclined guides 40. The raw material is delivered by a pair of feed rolls 38, 39 to the screW-operated'unit at-a speed somewhat less than that of the travel of the faller bars. I

Thehigh speed chain-operated unit of the machine as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6 comprises an elongated frameSO upon the sides of which are mounted a series of upstanding brackets 51. A transverse shaft 52 provided with a pair of spaced sprocketwheels 53 and .53? is journaled near the right end of the unit in bearings 54 and 54' fast to the sides of the frame. A second. transverse shaft 55 provided with' sprocket wheels 56 3 Y and 56' is journaled in bearings 57 and 57' near the left endofthe unit as shown-in Figs. 3' and 6. The shaft 55- carries at one end a gear 58 meshing with the driving gear 59 connecting with any convenient source of power. Sprocketchains" 60 and 60" connect thesprocket'wheels 53-56 and 53-56, the chains mating frotii r'ight" to left ina straight line upper pass and being"returned from left to right in a lower loop ed path guided" by ,aii adjustable guide 61 shown in Figs. and 6' arid idle pulleys 62-62' mounted on a transverse shaft-6F. journaled' in brackets 64 projecting downwardly from-the sides'of the frame 50. The sprocket chains are'indicatedin Figs. 2 and 3 by dot and dash lines.

The sprocket chains 60 and 60 carry between each pair of links a gill bar 65 provided with" ai longitudinal row of upstanding pins and ahead, sometimes calleda dog, at each end and" having an overhanging outwardly projecting guide stud and a-lower blocki6'l witha fiat guide surface formed therein. One of thesegill bars is shown in Fig. 10. The milled flat slots inthe dogs'run on the slide bars 70 and 70f supported ab'ovethe'side frames 50 by the brackets 51'. The slides70' and 70' extend the full length of the unit.

It will be apparent that the gill bars 65jare positively controlled in their position by the slotted dogs running on the full length slides. Curved guides 69 cooperate with sprocket wheels 53 and 53' and with a lower track 71 in controlling the path of the gill bars at. the receiving end of the high speed unit. These partsguide the dogs onto the slides. Upon leaving the high speed gill bar unit, the now combed and drafted fibers pass between a pair' of rolls 72 and 73 journaled in brackets, not shown, on the machine frame and through a converging chute 74 by which the fibers are formed into a compact sliver body; The chute leads the sliver to a pair of driven rolls 75 and 76 journaled in upstanding brackets 77. From these rolls the fiber passes downwardly at right angles and under a guide roll 78 also journaled in'the brackets 77 on its way to the next machinery in the line.

Gill bars 65 directly connected to sprocket chains may be employed in the high speed unit as above'described, or alternatively push bars 80 like those shown in Fig; 11 may be employed. The function of these is no different from the gill bars 65, but insteadof being connected to sprocket chains, each bar 80 is providedat its ends with rollers 81 and guiding heads 82'which cooperate with guide bars to control the path and position'of the push bars as they travel in an endless guided pathsimilar to that in which the gill bars are movedf The term gill bars is used herein to designate both the chain bars shown in Fig. and the push bars shownin Fig. 1 1. L

An inspection of Fig. 5 indicates the great advantage secured by the novel combination of slow speed screwoperated unit with high speed gill bar unit in that the pins of the gill bars 65 or 80 will be seen to move up into fibre-engaging position in substantially the same location in which the pins 17 of the descending faller bars 16 begin to withdraw from the'fibres; The'result is that there is substantially no loss of control of the fibre at any point in the combing and spreading process and substantially no loss of short fibre in'the transition zone.

The delivery ends of the guides 13 and 1 4 a're separated longitudinally from the sprockets 53, 53' by a space no wider than sufiicient to permit a faller bar 1 6 to pass downwardly to the lower lead screws 27. It is in this 1. A fine spreader comprising a screw-operated unit and a' chain-operated unit constructed and arranged to act consecutively and without an interposed intermediate zone upon advancing fibre, the screw-operated unit having a series of faller bars, a pair of parallel horizontal screws for advancing the bars in procession at a fixed speed, and the chain-operated unit having a series of gill bars, chains for advancing thev gillbars at a greater speed than the faller bars,and"spro c'ket' wheels for driving the chains offset inwardly with respecttothe delivery ends of said screws and; spaced" longitudinally relative to said delivery ends by approximately the widthof'a"faller bar, whereby fibre delivered by the faller bars is immediately' received for dr'aft by the g'ill' bars.

2. A fine spreader comprising: a screw-operated unit and a chain-operated unit constructed and arranged to act consecutively and without interruption upon advancing fibre, the screw-operated unit having a pair of horizontal guides at a fixed height, a series of faller bars movable thereon and screws connected to 1 the taller bars at points spacedlaterally beyond the'gu'ide's', 'and'the chain-operated unit having a pair of guides mounted at substantially the same fixed height, offset laterally" with respect to the guides of the chain-operated unit and spaced longitudinally relative'to said delivery ends by approximately the width of a faller bar, a series'of gill bars and chains for advancing the gillbars'onsaidlatter guides. v

3'. A fine spreader comprisinga screw-operated unit and a chain-operated unit'constructed and arranged to act consecutively and without an interposed intermediate zone upon advancing fibre, the screW Operate'd' unit including a' pair of p'arallelspacedhorizontal screws anda series of faller bars having upstanding pins and 'being space that the pins of the gill bars 65 pass upwardly and so take control of the fibre as it is being relinquished-by the pins of the faller bars 16.

Having thus disclosed my invention and describedin detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, 1' claim as new'a'nd 'desire to'secure by Letters Patent:

meshed at their opposite ends with'their screws, acha'inoperated unit'iricludinga pair of sprocket Wheelsmourited on atransverse shaft, longitudinally spacedfrom the delivery ends of the screws by no more than approxi- 'rnatelythe width of a faller bar an'doffset inwardly with respect to said screws; sprocket chainsrunning'on s aid whee1s,'and a series of-g'ill bars'carried' by the chains and moved thereby to engage and control fibre simuh taneouslywithits' disengagement by the pins of the faller bars.

4. A fine'spreader comprisinga slow'spe'edufiit' and a high speed unit constructed'and'arrangedto' act co'n secutively and without interruptionupo'nadvancing'fibre, the slow speed unit'having'a'pair of parallel rotary screws, guides spaced inwardly with respect to the screws",' a series of taller bars'r'nes'hing'a't their endswith the screws and'advanced'ther'eby at' a fixed' rate of travel along said guides, the high speed unit having't'racks dispo'sedin end to end relation'to saidscrews; 'offset outwardly'with re spect to the guides and spaced longitudinally from-said rotary screws not substantially more than the widthof-a faller bar, a series ofgill barsmova'ble along the tracks, and meansfor advancing the gill bars at a' faster rate of travel than the taller bars whereby the fibre is con tinuouslyen'gag'ed by the pins-of the taller bars or the pins of the gill-barsiis passing from one'unit to'another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

